Li Auto launched a new,Friend Wife cheaper Pro version of the L9 crossover on Thursday, with a starting price of RMB 429,800 ($60,080), down RMB 30,000 from the Max model. The Chinese automaker aims to boost sales with more diversified offerings. The lower price was achieved by equipping the L9 variant with more affordable components for advanced driver assistance capabilities, replacing the dual Nvidia’s Orin processing chips in the Max version with a Journey 5 supercomputer from China’s startup Horizon Robotics. Additionally, the Pro version no longer retains a lidar sensor offered by Nasdaq-listed Hesai. The electric vehicle maker also reduced the number of 8-megapixel cameras from six to one, while adding four additional 2-megapixel ones for the new variant, according to its announcement. Delivery is scheduled for later this month, and the company handed over 34,134 EVs in the past month. [Li Auto announcement, in Chinese]
